Merrick Garland LIVE I Attorney General's Fiery Speech To US Attorneys I US News LIVE

Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership ship and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have travel to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing ISS issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and formost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victims service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honor the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with humankindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his word have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the J justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the per purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors and attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering bring to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institution backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and our outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not not break Under Pressure the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States State's Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embolden us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building Trust trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt gin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 11 15,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organiz G ations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for s yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the dlj employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serve serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative source for a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair even-handed administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giv guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the world words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential fath are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norm Ms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law and enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure but choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorneys offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department building leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's Trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public service who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garland hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I am grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 15,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the years since we honored the dlj employees who risk their Liv lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today day as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawal ERS agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equ equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I thinking thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is out rageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department into our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character and Integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for requir quality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me and welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn e served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire OJ Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chem chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking expert experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the dlj employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hour the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the Federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for Generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants in including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the J Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations Reg regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civiletti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promotee the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compli liance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continue to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is d dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper apparation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country into the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you [Applause] thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the PPP talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General mic Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous high level positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embolden us to carry out the Department's m mission in earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants Within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorneys offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garland hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn e served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I am grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from AC across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd and iversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce is Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impart partial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so Department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Departments career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of pro prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil Edie I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of polic ICS over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecut toal discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legit legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure the choices you make in every investigation in every every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adher an to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principle Les of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in folsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low high homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as Partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th dep Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt G hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are here Heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person who life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce is Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been a 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with humankind who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public conf confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Departments career lawyers agents and staff and they in included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general s civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 198 80 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we inst reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshal who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice departments career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspira conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper apparation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protection people like all of you protecting the rule of law as the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorneys offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general mer Darin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 8 5th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have travel to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and formost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honor the doj employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enor responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce is Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long got Ed it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with humankindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlin values that have echoed in in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general civiletti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentenc Rec recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors and attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association at activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past 3 and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department dep solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy Worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours your and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the Big Boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promot of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provid us us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Vin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eisen served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most addressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 15 18,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with humankindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws he his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civil developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initi ating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as Attorney General for the past 3 and A2 years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embolden us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorneys offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Vin hello everyone thank you da for that overly generous introduction us attorney da Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to ter terorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote temper Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand and deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single Authority ative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the princip is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is voted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between Department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norm are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department into our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he is encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining the public strength trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me and welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garland hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney da Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from particip ating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the years since we honored the DJ employees who RIS R their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is this important important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert jackon delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for Generations he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career here lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election ction or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for republicans an or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected Ed equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continue to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character Integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personal I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Mary Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the dep Department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embold in us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse community ities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department bill attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garin hello everyone thank you Don for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn e served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the retire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists Grant Mak experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the doj employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce is Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal Pro prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the Federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General at leie Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Departments career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote In in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took step steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inap appropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust us compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege Poli policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried out in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our nor forms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous high level positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of public service service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorneys offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts every everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and Integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt V hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 20 3rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with humankindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servant including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policy policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the dep departments career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general s civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic doc arent enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney JY for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity National Orin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the fact acts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics over the course of four decades during which I served in different J jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm firm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and in Integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obl ation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents into individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the Eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general mer hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district District of Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce is Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have got guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general c civiletti i assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the Federal Criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors and attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disad Vantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 one after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and Demon demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attack on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspira conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded tax because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you [Applause] thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embolden us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of aerica and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provid us us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86 Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we Mark the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the Years since we honor the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends h holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with humankindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlin values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the J jce Department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and polic ities to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general c civiletti i assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reason to ex exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sense sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investig ation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is found foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embolden us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us Attorneys Office say we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making C communities feel seen and valued simply put in empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss Attorney General merri hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 100 and 15,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a Community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors Correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote temper Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and benj civil edti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reason exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the constit tion and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles of which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigation we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we published new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in every everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past 3 and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these princip principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he is encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the girls so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me and welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garland hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney da Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I am grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and surviv turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote temper Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policiy I to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that do doent is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department dep I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other person that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department into to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the Foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embold in us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his lead leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he is incouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in folsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this Department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining the Public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's mission it's public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garland hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US ATT attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needing did the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the years since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is this important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good PR prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlin values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the lead leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed leevy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Departments career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the Fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principle is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's old personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career in employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inter appropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the Press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character Integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in folsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse first communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h hom sides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt gar hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I am grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this Department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poison by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the doj employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norm forms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigation regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Departments career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrot wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agent may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the power power ful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our Criminal investig ation our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non- career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir consp iracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recog nition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application ation of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper apparation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues now Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has embolden us to carry out the Department's m mission in earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his life launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general mer hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce is Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outline values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fa fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general c civiletti i assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electron IC document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factor they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circum ances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fierce ly protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated ated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from def defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper apparation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law as the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you [Applause] thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorneys offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low record recs and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86 Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Vin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn is served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the us at attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedy you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers zeal with humankindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlin values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal J justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general c civiletti i assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to save Safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence Ence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these un founded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department had are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our Pro proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops and homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making cute communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of LA law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney da Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I'm grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US ATT attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victims service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and the year since we honored the dlj employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work forces Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with them power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote temper Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general c civiletti i assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reason exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or politically Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lives lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employ emplo of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy y worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility ility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you [Applause] thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters ERS because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Miss with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he is encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Vin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn e served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I am grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to disc discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th teror attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the year since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice Department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this work Force's Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with human kindness who seeks truth and not victims who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for Generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial application of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department Department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much of that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the decision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principle upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contacts between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press in law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your for lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you are bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believing that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department into our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country and to the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of Public Service at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you [Applause] thank you good morning morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Merrick Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has oked in us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively As Leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he is encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is sustaining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retaining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th Department built attorney general and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has supported the Department's Mission its public servants who have committed to this work of doing the right thing at all times during every stage for all people equally has made him the right attorney general for this time please join me in welcoming our leader the big boss attorney general Meritt Garin hello everyone thank you Dawn for that overly generous introduction us attorney Dawn Eis served for nearly 20 years as a career assistant us attorney in the eastern district of Michigan today she leads that office I grateful to her for everything that she does and I am grateful to all the US attorneys who are here with us today for your leadership and for generously agreeing to invite the entire doj Workforce to this closing session of the 85th annual us attorneys conference since 1939 us attorneys have traveled to Washington from across the country to meet with one another to discuss the most pressing issues facing their communities each year the Attorney General addresses the conference in recent years Attorneys General have delivered their remarks only to the US attorneys in a small windowless room upstairs in this building this year I wanted to talk to everyone from here in this Great Hall first and foremost to thank you all of you the over 115,000 public servants who make up this department every day in communities across the country and around the world you do difficult and often dangerous work on behalf of the American people when a heinous crime has been committed you are the ones to whom victims and survivors turn to seek Justice on their behalf you are the ones to whom the American people turn for help when a community is targeted by hate crimes when a neighborhood is poisoned by toxic chemicals when workers and consumers are harmed by corporate monopolies when voters are unlawfully blocked from participating in our Democratic process when our country faces threats raging from violent crime and drug trafficking to terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes you are the agents prosecutors correctional officers victim service specialists grantmaking experts Administrative Professionals and so many others who step up when you are needed the most and in the wake of horrific tragedies you are the ones to whom communities look for protection ction and for Solace yesterday we marked the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country as we took time to remember all those who were taken from us on that day and in the years since we honored the DJ employees who risk their lives in responding to the attacks they are heroes their service and sacrifice remind us that when the American people look to see what the justice department stands for they are looking to the example of the people who work here all of you I know that is an enormous responsibility so I want you to know that you have not only my gratitude but the Gratitude of every person whose life you have saved or changed through through your work you do not hear it often enough thank you thank you for being selfless public servants and Patriots thank you for the countless hours the nights and weekends holidays and time away from family that you have spent because you believe in the mission of this department and because you want to serve the American people and thank thank you not only for the work you do but for the way you do your work with skill and integrity that is what I want to talk about today this Workforce is Ironclad commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it and why that commitment is as important today as it has ever been 84 years ago then Attorney General Robert Jackson delivered a now famous address to the US attorneys right here in this Great Hall in that speech he sought to remind us attorneys of the enormous power they hold as Federal prosecutors and the responsibilities that come with that power he defined what he deemed quote a good prosecutor as a person who quote tempers Zeal with hum kindness who seeks truth and not victim who serves the law and not factional purposes and who approaches his task with humility close quote that speech which he titled the federal prosecutor outlined values that have echoed in the halls of this department and outside of it for a generation he gave voice to the principles that have guided not only prosecutors but all of our employees who understand deeply what is at stake when it comes to the fair and impartial application of our laws his words have inspired generations of public servants including me I first came to the justice department more than 40 years ago at a time when both the leadership and the career employees of this department were working to restore public confidence in the fair and impartial applic ation of our laws in the wake of Watergate to do so department leaders like Attorneys General Ed Levy Griffin Bell and Benjamin civiletti developed and formalized a set of norms to guide the Justice Department's adherence to the rule of law relying on values foundational to our democracy in particular the promise of equal justice under law they put forward a set of policies to guide the Justice Department's work those included policies designed to protect the independence of the justice department from partisan influence guidelines for FBI investigations regulations to protect the freedom of the press and policies to ensure respect for the Department's career lawyers agents and staff and they included a project to set out for the first time in a a single authoritative Source a set of principles to guide the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my first job at the justice department working for attorney general C civil edti I assisted on that project the result was a slim paper bound volume entitled principles of federal prosecution published in 1980 as you well know the curent current version of the principles is now a 23,000 word electronic document enshrined in the Justice manual the purpose of those principles as we wrote in the preface was quote to promote the reasoned exercise of prosecutorial Authority and contribute to the fair evenhanded administration of the federal criminal laws close quote much that document is devoted to giving guidance to prosecutors about which factors they could should consider in a multitude of situations from initiating prosecution to selecting charges disclosing exculpatory information entering into plea agreements and making sentencing recommendations but the core of the principles is its directive about which factors an attorney for the government may not consider in the words of that document quote the attorney for the government may not be influenced by a person's race religion gender ethnicity national origin sexual orientation or or political Association activities or beliefs by the attorney's own personal feelings concerning the person the person's Associates or the victim or by the possible effect of the de de ision on the attorney's own professional or personal circumstances this provision of the principles ends with an admonition quote Federal prosecutors and agents may never make a decision regarding an investigation or prosecution for the purpose of affecting any election or the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party in short we must treat like cases alike there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protects civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are anything but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are a promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics [Applause] over the course of four decades during which I served in different jobs both career and non-career in this department and in a completely different job in the judicial branch I watched as those Norms became woven into the fabric of the justice department and were sustained by its dedicated career employees when I came back to doj in 2021 after a particularly difficult period for the Department I said that my mission as attorney general would be to reaffirm and strengthen those Norms as the principles upon which the Department of Justice operates so we took steps to better protect the Department's criminal and civil law enforcement decisions and its legal judgments from partisan or other inappropriate influences to name only a few of those steps we in reinstituted policies regulating contact between department personnel and both the White House and Congress we strengthened and clarified the guidelines for sensitive FBI investigations we implemented remedial measures to ensure robust compliance with Section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act we updated protections for the press and law enforcement investigations in order to safeguard the essential role that a free press plays in our democracy we publish new policies to guide prosecutorial discretion with respect to charging pleas and sentencing we supplemented our state Secrets privilege policy to ensure that the United States invokes that privilege only when there is genuine risk to National Security and Department leadership restated and demonstrated through our actions again and again our respect for the work and integrity of the career employees who constitute the institutional backbone and historical memory of this department over the past three and a half years I have seen how the public servants of this department have continued to uphold and strengthen those Norms I have seen how you have risen to meet a range of extraordinary challenges and I have seen the incalculable toll this work has taken on so many of you especially those who risk your lies lives every day I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy weeks the deputy US Marshall who was killed while apprehending a fugitive earlier this spring and I am thinking of Heroes like Tommy's family who have made the kind of sacrifice that no one should ever have to make in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and up holding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratitude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break under pressure [Applause] the choices you make in every investigation in every filing in every trial in everything you do to ensure the fair and impartial application of the law make this department and our democracy worthy of the public we serve and for that you deserve respect as I hope you already know you have mine wholehearted you also Al have my promise that nothing will ever stop me from defending this department and defending the extraordinary people who work here I came back to doj as attorney general believe that our Norms are some of the most powerful tools we have to ensure our adherence to the rule of law having now served as attorney general for the past three and a half years I continue to believe deeply that our Norms matter now more than ever to our department and to our democracy I also believe now more than ever that the most important resources the justice department has are the dedication and integrity of the people people who work here as we wrote in the preface to the first edition of the principles of federal prosecution quote important though these principles are to the proper operation of our federal prosecutorial system the success of that system must rely ultimately on the character integrity sensitivity and competence of those men and women who are selected to represent the public interest in the Federal Criminal Justice process it is with their efforts that the purposes of these principles will be achieved close quote I know that many of you have heard me talk about why the work of the justice department is so important to me personally I've often shared that I wanted to give back to the country into the system of laws that took my grandparents in and protected them when they had nowhere else to go that protection is what distinguishes America from so many other countries the protection of law the rule of law is the foundation of our system of government our democracy relies on an independent law enforcement agency the Department of Justice to ensure those protections and critically our democracy depends on people who dedicate themselves and their careers to ensuring those protections people like all of you protecting the rule of law is the obligation of every generation of public servants at the United States Department of Justice in this time and place that responsibility is yours and it is mine I know we are up to it I am grateful to each of you for your commitment to this depart Department to the Norms that sustain it and to the people we all serve thank you [Applause] thank you good morning I have the great honor of introducing the person who when he visited the P talented public servants in my district I called the big boss our boss the Attorney General Meritt Garland when he came to lead the department he was no stranger to this work he knows this work and leads with the credibility of one who is Department built understanding the foundation on which the department stood originally when he was here and continues Now Keep the Country safe uphold the rule of law and protect civil rights through his tours of Duty as an a USA and the numerous highlevel positions before leading it he served he is one of us and the care and thoughtfulness with which he treats and reaffirms our charge has emboldened us to carry out the Department's m mission in Earnest because he has reminded us why this work matters because it's Noble it's good it's honorable and designed to take care of America and its people under his leadership we have been empowered to use our unique skills and talents individually and collectively as leaders of the US attorney's office and all of the great talent of Public Service servants within them to further Advance the Department's Mission with confidence and integrity following the facts to the law he has encouraged and supported our proactive engagement with our communities to reduce violent crime and directed us to engage in fullsome collaboration with our state and local partners and the community to better protect and take care of America's people and through his launch of the United against hate initiative across the 94 us attorney's offices we stand with every member of our richly diverse communities to prevent and address hate crimes and that level of support by this department built leader has mattered in the eastern district and in so many districts represented by my colleagues here today in Detroit through our engagement with both our law enforcement partners and Community Partners we have seen significant results last year we experienced drops in h homicides that we had not seen in over 50 years and to date we continue to see significant results in those low record numbers low records and low homicides and other violent crime and although there is more work to do because everybody counts everybody matters AG Garland's strong commitment and promotion of community outreach and intervention combined with enforcement efforts that focus on the drivers of violence has provided us with the ability to provide what we believe is SU staining change in our communities inviting community members to the table as partners being transparent about our work building trust and making communities feel seen and valued simply put empowering communities to reclaim their neighborhoods lifting their voice for equality and fair treatment upholding the rule of law by following the facts and the law retain maining The public's trust in what Remains the Department's critical Mission and as our leader he takes the arrows so that we can do this important work with the confidence and integrity that the department stands for under the leadership of this 86th